Pedro Velarde y Santillan

Pedro Velarde y Santillan (25 October 1779-2 May 1808) was a Spanish Army artillery captain who became famous for being one of the leaders of the failed Dos de Mayo uprising at the start of the Peninsular War in 1808.

Biography
Pedro Velarde y Santillan was born in Muriedas, Camargo, Spain on 25 October 1779 to a Cantabrian family, and he enrolled in an artillery college at the Alcazar de Segovia in 1793. Velarde y Santillan fought in the 1801 war with Portugal, during which he was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1808, he became one of the leaders of the Dos de Mayo uprising against France at the start of the Peninsular War, defending the Monteleon Barracks with the help of 37 other rebels. Velarde y Santillan and Louis Daoiz y Torres would be killed during the storming of the barracks by the French Army.